Friday, August 6, 2010

August 6, 2010

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:13-14
We are talking about humility. What is it? What does it look like? How do you know when you have it?
First, you learned that humility does not prejudge others and discussed what that means.
Now you learn that humility does not presume. Presume on what? On God and specifically, regarding time. In other words, it is not humble to think that you have all the time in the world. Certainly then, it would not be humble to act like time is under your control.
So, does that mean you cannot plan? It that presumptious? Are you presuming on God when you make your plans for the future? Is it wrong to plan? If not, then what DOES it mean?
When you presume on time you are acting as though you can control the clock and the calendar that measure the span of your life. In fact, you don't. You are not guaranteed the next day nor the next hour. Understanding that should be humbling.
Humility comes from your understanding of your place in relationship to God. Humility puts Him in His proper place as the judge and as the master of time. Humility removes you from assuming or presuming on those roles. You are not the judge of others nor are you in control of the future. When you understand that you facing eternity and that you are accountable to eternity that is extremely humbling. When you stand in judgment of others it has eternal consequences. That attitude could negatively impact your eternity and that act of judging could jeopardize the eternity of others.
Humility does not prejudge and humility never presumes on the future.
Those are two very clear measurements of humility.
How do you measure up in the humility quotient? Can you identify any judgmental attitudes or tendencies? When you make plans do you think, "If God be willing"?